update on florida caps trapping activities for duponchelia ... · 8/11/2008 · leaf litter and...

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Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey Program – FDACS and USDA APHIS PPQ

Update on Florida CAPS trapping activities for Duponchelia fovealis Zeller,

September 2010 to May 2011

A. Derksen, CAPS Pest Survey Specialist, FDACS-DPI-CAPS and

L. Whilby, CAPS State Survey Coordinator

Introduction

Duponchelia fovealis (European pepper moth) is a stem and root-boring Lepidopteran pest of

ornamental and vegetable crops (Figure 4). The larvae prefer humid environments obscured by

leaf litter and soil cover. The larvae (Figure 5) frequently leave silken tunnels in topsoil,

between pots, or web leaves together. They tend to bore into the stem and root tissue in the top

two centimeters of soil, resulting in vascular wilt to the host plant. They may also range into

middle stems, lower leaves, or burrow into fruit. With high density infestations or densely

planted hosts, larvae may be found on leaves in the upper canopy.

The adult is mottled grey with a wingspan of one to two centimeters. Adults are strong fliers

with a high dispersal capability, having been trapped more than sixty miles from source

populations in the Netherlands. The adult lifespan ranges from one to two weeks, and females

may lay as many as two hundred eggs during this period.

They are broadly polyphagous, feeding on hosts in thirty-eight separate families. Known hosts

include a number of vegetable and ornamental commodities including azalea, blackberry, corn,

cucumber, elm, fig, geranium, hygrophila, kalanchoe, lettuce, mint, pepper, poinsettia,

pomegranate, rose, strawberry and tomato. The larval period may last from four to six weeks.

D. fovealis pupates in the topsoil or leaf litter in a cocoon constructed of silk and soil particles.

This stage may last from one to two weeks.

Interception History

Duponchelia fovealis’ biogeographic origins are believed to lie in the moist coastal areas of the

Mediterranean region, where the insect had been described as an occasional pest of vegetables.

The moth’s range has recently expanded throughout the rest of Europe, following poor

phytosanitary procedure for cut flowers and rooted transplants, to become a significant

greenhouse pest for the floral industry and hydroponic vegetables. It is believed to have

expanded into Canada on potted plants, and was confirmed at three greenhouses in 2005. Most

interceptions of this pest at United States ports have occurred when larvae were detected within

pepper fruit or on cut flowers.

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On 18 May 2010, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) informed APHIS of an

interception of larvae found within materials shipped from a nursery in Vista, California. The

California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) set traps baited with pheromone lure at

the nursery site, and traps recovered on 1 July 2010 were confirmed as D. fovealis by the APHIS

Systematic Entomology Laboratory (SEL) on 16 July 2010. Trace-forwards for materials

shipped from this nursery suggested trapping other counties, and the follow-up survey by CDFA

confirmed the presence of the moth in sixteen other counties in California. Trace-forwards on

nursery materials out of the state were shared by CDFA with the Federal and other State

Departments of Agriculture, who initiated their own survey programs. By early December 2010,

surveys using pheromone traps had detected D. fovealis in thirteen states, including Alabama,

Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South

Carolina, Texas and Washington.

Survey Methods

Survey sites in Florida were determined based on an assessment of risk factors. These factors

included the availability of known host material at a site, the origin of commodities, and the

quantity and frequency at which host material was shipped to that site. Special emphasis was

placed on sites that had received host shipments from infested counties or their neighboring

counties in California. Local producers of host commodities were also examined. At each site,

delta-wing type traps were baited with one rubber septa containing a pheromone lure specific to

D. fovealis, and suspended within the perimeter of high-risk locations. Traps were placed in

open areas with good air-flow at approximately two meters in height. GPS coordinates were

recorded for all traps, and a unique code identifying the trap was assigned. Traps were checked

on two-week intervals for the presence of the moth, and lures were replaced once every two

months. If suspicious specimens were observed in the body of the trap, the trap was collected

and submitted to identifiers at FDACS-DPI in Gainesville, Florida for identification.

Florida Results

Florida’s survey program began in mid-September 2010, shortly after receiving CDFA’s

notification and acquiring the appropriate pheromone lure and traps. These pheromone-baited traps

were initially placed within the receiving area and around the borders of nurseries that had received

plant materials from the California nursery responsible for the initial detection after July 2010.

By December 2010, sixty-eight traps had been placed in twenty-three counties. Of the traps

placed, fifteen traps had caught moths in nine separate counties within the first two-week

sampling period after placement. The highest density captures were observed outside a nursery

in Central Florida. Traps were maintained at several different positive locations in order to

observe the growth or decline in local populations over time, and to compare this to ambient

environmental conditions. Over time, these traps collected a variable number of moths, with no

strong pattern within a region or between regions (Figure 1). Raw capture data for all traps is

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provided in Tables 1A – D. Table 2 provides a regional and state summary for all captures

throughout the program.

The trapping program expanded to include more counties, and traps were placed in locations near

pepper growers’ fields in addition to nursery sites. By May 2011, eighty-eight traps had been

placed in twenty-six counties, but only forty of these traps were still active in the field at that time.

Of the twenty-six counties surveyed, twenty had detected the moth at some location within the

county (Figure 2). Over the eight months that this survey has been active, this averages to an

increase of approximately two and a half counties per month of the program (Figure 3).

Acknowledgements

The Florida CAPS program would like to acknowledge the contributions of several organizations

and individuals for their assistance during survey and trapping programs, without whom this

project would have required additional time and travel resources. These include Dr. Lance

Osborne (MREC-IFAS), Dr. Charles Mellinger of Glades Crop Care, Alfredo Bergolla with Costa

Nurseries Inc., Altman’s Nursery, and Roger Hammer with Miami-Dade County Parks and

Recreation. We would also extend our thanks to FDACS-DPI personnel: Plant Inspectors Ray

Buchholz, Joaothomaz Da Fonseca and Leslie Wilber, Teresa Estok, Lisa Hassell, Sol Looker,

Mikaela Anderson, Theresa Estok, Jason Spiller, Maria Apgar, Glenn Hart, Linda Combs, Richard

Blaney, Edward Ziegler, Mark Terrell, Scott Krueger, Eddie Anderson; also Dr. David Schuster,

Aaron Schelf and Dr. Hugh Smith of UF-IFAS; and Phil Stansley and Barry Kostyk of UF-

SWFREC; also Thomas Nelson of USDA-FFD-Palmetto; and entomologists Julieta Brambila of

USDA-APHIS-PPQ and Dr. James Hayden of FDACS-DPI.

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Table 1A. Duponchelia fovealis – trap captures in North Florida (4 counties) during

October 2010 - June 1, 2011.

Date Collected yyyymmdd County Trap # # moths Site Type

20101104 Alachua DF-A-0001-b 1 Research center

20110511 Bradford DF-A-0003-a 7 Garden center

20110520 Nassau DF-A-0007 1 Garden center

20110519 Duval DF-A-0010 2 Garden center

Total = 11

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Table 1B. Duponchelia fovealis – trap captures in Central Florida (5 counties) during

October 2010 - June 1, 2011.

Date Collected yyyymmdd County Trap # # moths Site Type

20101013 Orange DF-B-0001

1 Commercial

20101014 Orange DF-B-0004

53 Nursery

20101020 Orange DF-B-0004

31 Nursery

20101027 Orange DF-B-0004

33 Nursery

20101103 Orange DF-B-0004

22 Nursery

20101108 Orange DF-B-0004

14 Nursery

20101116 Orange DF-B-0004

24 Nursery

20101123 Orange DF-B-0004

26 Nursery

20101206 Orange DF-B-0004

21 Nursery

20101221 Orange DF-B-0004

1 Nursery

20110104 Orange DF-B-0004

3 Nursery

20110120 Orange DF-B-0004

4 Nursery

20110215 Orange DF-B-0004

5 Nursery

20110223 Orange DF-B-0004

12 Nursery

20110301 Orange DF-B-0004

10 Nursery

20110309 Orange DF-B-0004

16 Nursery

20110314 Orange DF-B-0004

22 Nursery

20110324 Orange DF-B-0004

42 Nursery

20110411 Orange DF-B-0004

33 Nursery

20110425 Orange DF-B-0004

9 Nursery

20110504 Orange DF-B-0004

19 Nursery

20110509 Orange DF-B-0004

17 Nursery

20110517 Orange DF-B-0004

12 Nursery

20110524 Orange DF-B-0004

20 Nursery

20110601 Orange DF-B-0004

7 Nursery

20101025 Orange n/a - hand catch 3 Nursery

20101108 Orange DF-B-0005

1 Nursery

20110509 Orange DF-B-0005

1 Nursery

20101029 Orange DF-B-0007

2 Garden center

20101102 Polk DF-B-0014

1 Garden center

20110511 Volusia DF-B-0022

1 Commercial

20110302 Hernando DF-B-0028

5 Garden center


2 Garden center


1 Garden center


1 Garden center


1 Garden center


1 Garden center

20110309 Seminole DF-B-0029

1 Nursery

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Table 1B (continued). Duponchelia fovealis – trap captures in Central Florida (5 counties) during

October 2010 - June 1, 2011.

Date Collected yyyymmdd County Trap #

# moths Site Type

20110324 Seminole DF-B-0029 3 Nursery






20110425 Orange dfb-0004-exp 58 Nursery




Total = 798

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Table 1C. Duponchelia fovealis – trap captures in South Florida (2 counties) during

October 2010 - June 1, 2011.


# moths Site Type

20101108 Palm Beach DF-C-0006-a

8 Nursery


10 Nursery


6 Nursery


7 Nursery


38 Nursery


43 Nursery


6 Nursery


28 Nursery


1 Nursery

20101025 Palm Beach DF-C-0006-b

3 Nursery

20101108 Palm Beach DF-C-0006-b

3 Nursery

20110302 Palm Beach DF-C-0012

5 Farm - pepper


1 Farm - pepper


5 Farm - pepper


9 Farm - pepper


42 Farm - pepper

20110415 Miami-Dade DF-C-0018

1 Farm - mixed crops


4 Nursery


7 Nursery

Total = 227

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Table 1D. Duponchelia fovealis – trap captures in Southwest Florida (20 counties) during

October 2010 - June 1, 2011.


# moths Site Type

20101123 Charlotte DF-D-0003-a 1

Garden center


Garden center


Garden center


Garden center

20110228 Pinellas DF-D-0005-a 2

Garden center

20110314 Pinellas DF-D-0005-a 1

Garden center

20110411 Pinellas DF-D-0005-a 1

Garden center

20110425 Pinellas DF-D-0005-a 2

Garden center

20101112 Hillsborough DF-D-0007-a 1

Research station


Garden center


Garden center


Garden center


Garden center


Garden center

20101021 Highlands DF-D-0015-a 7

Garden center


Garden center


Garden center


Garden center


Garden center

20110322 Sarasota DF-D-0024-a 1

Garden center

20110503 Sarasota DF-D-0024-a 1

Garden center

20110503 Desoto DF-D-0025-a 9

Garden center

20110524 Desoto DF-D-0025-a 1

Garden center

20101208 Hardee DF-D-0026-a 1

Garden center

20110322 Hardee DF-D-0026-a 2

Garden center

20110411 Hardee DF-D-0026-a 1

Garden center

20110502 Hardee DF-D-0026-a 4

Garden center

20110504 Hardee DF-D-0026-a 8

Garden center

20101129 Manatee DF-D-0027-a 1

Garden center

20110314 Manatee DF-D-0027-a 1

Garden center

20110328 Manatee DF-D-0027-a 1

Garden center

20110411 Manatee DF-D-0027-a 1

Garden center

20110321 Collier DF-D-0031-a 2

Farm - pepper

Total = 80

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Table 2. Regional and state totals for trap captures of Duponchelia fovealis during

October 2010 - June 1, 2011.

Region Counties Sites

Moths

Collected

North 4 4 11

Central 5 8 798

South 2 4 227

Southwest 9 10 80

TOTALS 20 26 1116

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Figure 1. Trap catches of Duponchelia fovealis for all traps maintained for more than one sampling period during October 2010 - June 1, 2011.

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Figure 2. Map of positive counties for Duponchelia fovealis as of July 13, 2011.

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Figure 3. The cumulative number of Florida counties positive for the detection of Duponchelia fovealis

after the survey program using trap and lure was initiated.

0

5

10

15

20

25

9/29/2010 11/18/2010 1/7/2011 2/26/2011 4/17/2011 6/6/2011

Cu

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lati

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um

be

r o

f Fl

ori

da

Co

un

tie

s

Date

1 Orange 10/13/2010

2 Highlands 10/21/2010

3 Palm Beach 10/25/2010

4 Polk 11/2/2010

5 Alachua 11/4/2010

6 Hillsborough 11/12/2010

7 Charlotte 11/23/2010

8 Manatee 11/29/2010

9 Hardee 12/8/2010

10 Pinellas 2/28/2011

11 Hernando 3/2/2011

12 Seminole 3/11/2011

13 Collier 3/21/2011

14 Sarasota 3/22/2011

15 Miami-Dade 4/15/2011

16 DeSoto 5/03/2011

17 Bradford 5/10/2011

18 Volusia 5/11/2011

19 Duval 5/19/2011

20 Nassau 5/20/2011

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Figure 4. Duponchelia fovealis Zeller, adult. (Photography credit:

Robin Barfoot, United Kingdom, http://ukmoths.org.uk image#1403a).

Figure 5. Duponchelia fovealis Zeller, larva. (Photography credit:

Dr. Marja van der Straten, National Reference Laboratory,

Plant Protection Service, the Netherlands)

http://ukmoths.org.uk/

update on florida caps trapping activities for duponchelia ... · 8/11/2008 · leaf litter and...

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